Western 14
10:04:52 PM Ash: You guys all pile onto a train headed even further west. 10:07:31 PM Ash: It's a nice train, though, and you get nice accomodations. Anya and Theo have a lot of money they don't mind tossing around. 10:07:38 PM Ash: Because crooks. 10:10:10 PM *** Jo very much appreciates this, and once again asks to stay with Theo. *** 10:13:13 PM Ash: Sofia pouts a bit. ".... aww. I wanted to stay with you." 10:13:41 PM *** Jo smiles. *** 10:14:05 PM Jo: You can visit, you know. I am sure there are seats enough for all of us in one compartment, just not, er… beds. 10:14:50 PM Ash: Sofia: Okay. I'll stay with Anya. 10:15:00 PM Ash: Anya: No, Anya is staying by herself. Stay with Caspar. 10:16:36 PM Jo: I'm sure Cas doesn't mind. 10:16:47 PM Jo: We might need fake wedding rings, however. 10:20:14 PM Ash: Theo: Think so? 10:20:33 PM Ash: Sofia gasps. "For who?" 10:21:01 PM Jo: Me and you. Men don't usually have them. 10:21:46 PM Ash: Sofia: Are we marrying each other? It's rather sudden, but yes. 10:22:12 PM Jo: No, just pretending to be married to Crafter and Cas. 10:23:25 PM Ash: Sofia: Oh! Okay. 10:24:08 PM Ash: She beams at Cas an takes his arm. "Helloooooo.... husband," she mumurs in a voice that would make any heterosexual man wilt. 10:24:28 PM Jo: Exactly like that, very good. 10:26:37 PM Ash: Casper: Ah, a fake marriage to a beautiful woman, just what my father always wanted for me. 10:26:41 PM Ash: Sofia: Yay! 10:26:55 PM Jo: Just be glad it is fake. 10:28:33 PM Ash: Casper: That's true. 10:29:14 PM *** Jo conjures a ring for herself and one for Sofia. *** 10:29:56 PM Ash: Sofia beams and puts it on. 10:30:41 PM Jo: And I shall be Mrs. Crafter. I do not think I can manage an American accent, however. 10:30:41 PM Ash: Anya: ... the skull can stay with me. He doesn't take up much room. 10:31:01 PM Ash: Francisco: Some people call that my best feature! 10:31:09 PM Jo: They haven't heard your singing voice. 10:31:47 PM Ash: Francisco: And all without lungs! 10:32:29 PM Jo: You are amazing. 10:36:38 PM Ash: So! You get loaded onto the train with your luggage. Or, Cas and your luggage. The others don't have any, and Francisco is luggage. He counts as it, anyway. 10:37:24 PM *** Jo snogs Theo as soon as their stuff is safely stowed, because of course she does. *** 10:39:11 PM Ash: It's a nice little stateroom! But he kisses back. 10:39:30 PM Ash: Theo: ... we met on a train. 10:39:39 PM Ash: Theo: On top of one. 10:40:08 PM Jo: That is very true. I thought for sure I would fall off. 10:41:48 PM Ash: Theo: It's even trickier aiming a rifle on top of a train. I suppose one gets used to it. 10:44:48 PM Jo: It was very romantic. 10:45:06 PM Ash: Theo: Dragons are very romantic. 10:45:44 PM Jo: Are you? 10:46:22 PM Ash: Theo: I just mean... conceptually. I might not be good at romance. 10:48:56 PM Jo: No? Why do you think so? 10:49:42 PM Ash: Theo: It's a complicated system of social cues. And I'm usually good at systems. Not so good at social. 10:52:19 PM Ash: Theo: Other people add lots of complicated variables. 10:53:59 PM Jo: You seem to be able to navigate me remarkably well. 10:56:34 PM Ash: Theo: .... helps that you want me to navigate you. 10:56:41 PM Ash: Theo: ... does that sound prurient? 10:56:57 PM Jo: It does! I like it. 11:05:35 PM Ash: Theo: Good, I was trying. 11:06:08 PM Jo: See, you're not bad at this at all! 11:08:31 PM Ash: Theo: Innuendo is very easy to do accidentally, I've found. 11:10:57 PM Jo: And deliberately as well. 11:11:04 PM Jo: How much practice have you had? 11:11:53 PM Ash: Theo: Especially with technical jargon. Accidental? A lot. 11:12:37 PM Jo: Oh no, I mean deliberate. Practice with romance. 11:13:29 PM Ash: Theo: Very little. 11:13:55 PM Jo: Dozens, then, not hundreds. 11:14:36 PM Ash: Theo: two. 11:15:48 PM Jo: Two dozen? That is all? Really? … how have you managed to escape pursuit? 11:16:23 PM Ash: Theo: two people. 11:17:24 PM Jo: ... are you sure? 11:19:16 PM Ash: Theo: I’m sure. I’m not counting attempted fae courtships. 11:19:39 PM Jo: Ohhh, no wonder. How many does that add up to, then? 11:20:00 PM Ash: Theo: seven? Seven. 11:20:20 PM *** Jo eyes him. *** 11:20:25 PM Jo: Where have you been hiding? 11:23:15 PM Ash: Theo: Dragons are not particularly desirable consorts among the Fae. They prefer us as guard dogs and hunting prey. 11:23:54 PM Jo: You are certainly not a dog, darling. 11:24:32 PM Ash: Theo: figurative. 11:25:38 PM Jo: I know, but even so. 11:25:45 PM | Edited 11:26:09 PM Jo: Why did you turn them down? 11:26:16 PM Ash: Theo: the suitors? 11:27:58 PM Ash: Theo: most of them had ulterior motives for wanting a Dragon for a husband. 11:29:14 PM Jo: Like what? 11:30:39 PM Ash: Theo: Lady Idress of the Thirteen Thorns wanted dragonblooded heirs. 11:31:36 PM Ash: Theo: Marchioness Fidaela wanted to spite her controlling father. 11:32:06 PM Ash: Theo: Who was a famed Dragonhunter. 11:32:58 PM Jo: Wait, people hunt dragons? 11:33:06 PM Jo: Fey hunt dragons? 11:33:11 PM Jo: Why? 11:34:30 PM Ash: Theo: Challenging prey mostly. 11:35:06 PM Jo: But you're people. 11:36:42 PM Ash: Theo: these are fae we’re talking about. 11:42:56 PM Jo: ... sorry, I just can't... imagine doing that. 11:44:37 PM Jo: ... what do you think my ulterior motives are, hm? 11:57:14 PM Ash: Theo: these are fae we’re talking about. 9:11:44 PM Ash: Theo: I haven't really thought about it. I don't actually know enough about demonkind to extrapolate based on that. And I find you, personally, pretty inscrutable. I like it. 9:14:14 PM Jo: But I'm practically transparent. … I thought. 9:16:39 PM Ash: Theo: Sometimes, int he short term, but only because you make it very clear what you want. 9:17:27 PM Jo: That usually makes it easier to get what I want. 9:19:30 PM Ash: Theo: So it's not the same as you being transparent. 9:23:17 PM Jo: What about the other suitors? 9:26:58 PM Ash: Theo: Just... more of the same. All transparent, all wanting something. 9:27:24 PM Jo: Well, I certainly can't say I don't want something. 9:27:46 PM Ash: Theo: Something only tangentially having to do with me, I mean. 9:30:52 PM Jo: Odd people. 9:33:22 PM Jo: I cannot imagine. 9:34:01 PM *** Jo twines her arms around him a bit. *** 9:39:14 PM Ash: Theo: Thus, here we are. Dragons are not.... terribly looked upon fondly in Fae. 9:39:40 PM Jo: Why is that? You seem all right to me. 9:46:01 PM Jo: And you're rather clearly people. 9:46:25 PM Ash: THeo: THat really doesn't matter as much to the Fae as you might think. I think they have a hard time telling. 9:47:13 PM Jo: I don't. 9:53:25 PM | Edited 9:54:00 PM Ash: Theo smiles, a little. "You don't. 9:54:17 PM Jo: I think dragons are very romantic. 9:54:23 PM *** Jo snogs him, with intent! *** 9:57:58 PM Ash: He snogs back! Matching intent! 9:59:04 PM Jo: ((Definitely a curtain, then!)) 10:09:18 PM Ash: Indeed! 10:09:35 PM Ash: And let's play. We got to play a little, at least. More tomorrow! 10:11:13 PM Jo: ((Okay!)) 6:49:57 PM Ash: So! You're on a train, headed west to Crescent City. Outside, it's starting to look awful Wild West outside. Dusty badlands and rolling fields. 6:50:53 PM *** Jo looks out the window and puts her clothes back on. *** 6:51:00 PM Jo: It's rather flat, isn't it? 6:59:27 PM Ash: Theo looks out the window from the small bed. "IT tends to be rather flat here, yes. And it seems to go on forever, sometimes. When you're used to England, it can be quite a change, I understand." 7:00:41 PM Jo: The colors are different. 7:03:21 PM Ash: Theo: Red, brown and orange. Some greens. 7:07:28 PM Jo: Very beautiful. 7:07:31 PM Jo: It looks dry. 7:18:35 PM Ash: Theo: It is. There's plenty of rivers and water sources, but there's just.... a lot more land to cover here. 7:19:18 PM Ash: It's about mid morning, at this point, and the train is thundering across a plain at the moment. 7:19:36 PM Jo: How long have you lived here? 7:21:38 PM Ash: Theo: A year. This is where I ended up when I escaped Fae. Well, not far from here, anyway. 7:22:43 PM Jo: And you just stayed? 7:32:41 PM Ash: Theo: Sure. I landed in a town North of here, a bit. North and east. THey were kind to me, , helped me recover. I also found that this area is full of wild magic. Can you feel it? 7:35:56 PM *** Jo goes quiet and "listens." *** 7:37:19 PM Ash: You do feel it! There's a charge in the air here, and it's not demonic energy, or fae energy -- just magic. Raw, and wild. 7:38:21 PM Jo: That could be rather worryingly powerful, couldn't it? 7:44:01 PM Ash: Theo: It could. Rifts open here all the time -- I fell through one. There are more than a few dragons that lair out here. 7:44:08 PM Ash: He points at his chest. 7:48:36 PM Ash: Theo: Besides me and Anya. 7:49:51 PM | Edited 7:59:10 PM Ash: Theo: Other creatures slither out of Fae or Hell out here, too. There were a bunch of Half-Demons and Warlocks that ran rampant around this area for a long time. 8:53:49 PM Jo: What happened to them? 8:55:37 PM Ash: Oh, they were eventually run off by the town they were terrorizing. 8:56:05 PM Ash: Theo: Their leader died, they just kind of fell apart. 8:56:33 PM Jo: Good. 8:57:28 PM Ash: Theo: They've had some issues with his old gang, but nothing like it used to be. 8:58:37 PM Jo: What sort of... issues? 9:02:22 PM Ash: Theo: This is all second hand, but from what I understand, a few of them tried starting gangs of their own. 9:07:45 PM Jo: It spread. 9:16:40 PM Ash: Theo: None of them were terribly successful. 9:19:46 PM Jo: Thankfully, I suspect. 9:22:43 PM Ash: Theo: Four warlocks are bad news. 9:23:27 PM Jo: Most warlocks are bad news, really. 9:24:44 PM Ash: Theo: Three of them are dead. All by the same woman, apparently, so. 9:25:26 PM Jo: What about the last one? 9:28:43 PM Ash: Theo: Not sure yet. The gang ran rampant before I showed up, so I don't know who they were or where they disappeared from. 9:30:01 PM Jo: Ever had any trouble with rival gangs? 9:30:15 PM Ash: Theo: Most definitely. 9:30:38 PM Ash: Theo: I ran up against Harrow's gang more than a few times. Harrow was one of the warlocks. 9:30:57 PM Jo: What happened? 9:35:31 PM Ash: Theo: We hit the same train. It was awkward. He was pretty powerful, we ended up expending more energy protecting the people than anything else. 9:36:04 PM *** Jo smiles, leans over and kisses him on the forehead. *** 9:36:09 PM Jo: You really are rather lovely. 9:45:16 PM Ash: Theo: … I mean, we still stole some stuff. But we're not murderers. 9:46:28 PM Jo: What did you steal that time? 9:47:36 PM Ash: Theo: Some tomes, mostly. 9:51:31 PM Jo: Magical ones? What were they? 9:52:34 PM Ash: Theo thinks. "It was Saviche's Arcane Panoply, and Instread's Footnotes." 9:53:07 PM Jo: A copy of Footnotes still exists? 9:53:29 PM Ash: Theo: It turned out to be a fake. 9:53:51 PM Jo: Thank goodness. I don't think I've heard of Arcane Panoply? 9:54:14 PM Ash: Theo: It's a collection of weather charms. 9:54:46 PM Jo: What was the problem with it? 10:00:34 PM Ash: Theo: Only about half of them worked. 10:00:59 PM Ash: Theo: Weather is such a complicated system, tampering with it is very risky. 10:01:27 PM Jo: Most people know that by now, surely. 10:01:41 PM Ash: Theo: You'd be surprised. 10:05:00 PM Jo: Don't most people who try weather spells get killed by them? 10:07:31 PM Ash: Theo: Or drowning their towns. 10:08:11 PM Jo: Well, yes. 10:08:27 PM Jo: Lightning and tornados are a bit more common. 10:13:05 PM Ash: Theo: In any case, that's what we were there for. I suspect Harrow was after the Footnotes, too. 10:13:55 PM Jo: Even a fake could be dangerous. 10:15:04 PM | Edited 10:15:36 PM Ash: Theo laughs. "In this case, it was baking recipes just translated into Aramethean. 10:15:32 PM Jo: Oh, not so bad, then! 10:18:07 PM Ash: Theo: The banana bread didn't rise, that's the worst thing. 10:18:24 PM Jo: You tried it? 10:19:49 PM Ash: Theo: Of course. 10:24:40 PM Ash: Theo: Apparently some enterprising conman made some would-be Wizard very happy about his rare find, and got very rich in the process. 10:25:35 PM Jo: I do love a happy ending. 10:26:28 PM Ash: Theo: It was a close thing, though. Harrow was very good at the pain spells. 10:27:00 PM Jo: Ugh. 10:28:21 PM Ash: He wasn't expecting two dragons, though. 10:28:51 PM Ash: Theo: … that becomes an advantage in many altercations, we find. 10:29:26 PM Jo: Indeed. Until quite recently I never expected one dragon, let alone two. 10:31:05 PM Ash: Theo: Anya is practically two. 10:31:31 PM Jo: Two heads, I cannot imagine how that must feel. 10:32:25 PM Ash: Theo: You should try it at some point, just to see what it's like. 10:33:02 PM Jo: Have you? 10:34:10 PM Jo: I do enjoy trying new things. 10:34:36 PM Ash: Theo: I can't shapechange. 10:36:15 PM Jo: I really don't understand how that works. 10:36:58 PM Jo: You're a man regardless, but you certainly seem like a human one now and a dragon one other times. 10:42:57 PM Ash: Theo: I'm.... always a dragon. I just have a glamour. I put it on, everyone perceives me as human. Even reality. 10:44:11 PM Jo: So when I touch you, you always feel it through scales? 10:44:26 PM Ash: Theo nods. 10:44:58 PM Jo: … would you like to try skin? 10:45:17 PM Ash: THeo: …. I've always been curious. 10:46:44 PM Jo: Let me into your head. 10:46:56 PM Ash: Theo nods, and does! 10:48:18 PM *** Jo taps him into her own nervous system, more or less, to let him feel what she feels. *** 10:51:22 PM Ash: Theo's eyes widen. ".. this is strange." 10:52:00 PM Jo: I imagine so! 10:52:22 PM Jo: Try touching me, if you can stand the double-mental-vision, so to speak. 10:52:46 PM Ash: He does so, trying to put his hand on your back. 10:57:00 PM *** Jo kisses him, and he probably gets a whole storm of feelings from that, physical and emotional. *** 10:57:34 PM Ash: Theo: … wow. That is.... heady. Pardon the pun. 10:59:43 PM Jo: Skin's quite sensitive. 11:03:28 PM Ash: Theo: My scales are very sensitive more than you might think, but it's not quite like this. 11:05:40 PM Jo: I can tell. I'm not trying to pick it up, but it does go a bit both ways. 11:08:14 PM Ash: She does get a lot of affection toward her, and heavy emotions she can tell he's still processing and trying to figure out. 11:11:17 PM Jo: I am trying to damp it down for the sake of your privacy, but there's quite a bit going on with two bodies. 11:17:26 PM Ash: Theo: I don't have a lot to hide from you. 11:18:33 PM Jo: Thankfully! One's mind can only stretch so far... 11:19:06 PM *** Jo kisses him again. *** 11:21:22 PM Ash: There's a very nice echo chamber effect that goes back and forth between you both, affection and lust bouncing back and forth. 11:22:26 PM *** Jo is also terribly curious, and definitely tries to drag that to a curtaining situation. *** 11:27:56 PM Ash: That's a curtain but the curtain is definitely.... on fire. 11:29:39 PM *** Jo enjoys the hell out of that, and the remnants of the brain firewall probably don't last very long. *** 11:48:27 PM Jo: … I didn't know you felt that way too. 11:50:13 PM Ash: Theo: … I don't show it well. 11:50:22 PM Ash: Theo: Apparently that's a dragon thing. 11:52:18 PM Jo: I just didn't want to... mess it up. 11:54:00 PM Ash: Theo: I don't think you had. 11:56:36 PM Jo: Well, no. But if I'd had feelings and you hadn't... well, that might have been difficult. 12:01:29 AM Ash: Theo: … well, yes. 12:04:02 AM *** Jo kisses him on the shoulder. *** 12:04:09 AM Ash: He blinks -- as if thinking about how awkward it would have been -- he didn't think about that. 12:05:49 AM Jo: You have a lovely mind, by the way. Complex, but patterned. 12:06:54 AM Ash: Theo smiels, genuinely. ".... thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." 12:07:32 AM Jo: You ought to be getting more compliments. 4:39:45 PM Ash: Theo shrugs, and lays back on the bed. 4:41:42 PM *** Jo sits next to him. *** 4:47:33 PM Jo: What are we going to do? 4:53:01 PM Ash: Theo: Short-term, or generally speaking? 4:53:39 PM Jo: Generally. I haven't ever been... involved like this. 4:57:53 PM Ash: Theo: Me neither. 4:59:25 PM Jo: What would happen if I slept with someone else? What would happen if you did? 5:01:47 PM Ash: Theo: Not something that happens a lot for me, so I don't think you need to worry about that. Relationships are complicated sets of variables when you just have one, nevermind several such entanglements. I don't know that I have the math to cope with that. 5:03:38 PM Jo: Then what would happen if I did? 5:03:48 PM Ash: Theo: I would be extremely jealous. 5:05:25 PM Jo: Then I shouldn't. 5:05:48 PM Ash: Theo: I will try not to be terribly possessive. 5:06:18 PM Jo: It's a stereotype that dragons are. 5:13:47 PM Jo: … I shall try not to do it. I haven't really wanted to for a while. Though I do love Cas. 5:16:31 PM Ash: Theo: …. I would hate to cause you discomfort, though. 5:17:20 PM Jo: I would hate to cause you discomfort, Theo. 5:35:42 PM Ash: Theo smiles. "... well, at least that feeling is mutual. I suppose w'ell have to muddle through." 5:38:41 PM Jo: I think I love you. 5:40:45 PM Ash: Theo smiles back. ".... I think I love you too. " 5:43:42 PM *** Jo leans over and kisses him on the cheek. *** 5:43:54 PM Jo: I shall try to keep you safe. 5:45:39 PM Ash: Theo: … Anya would say I need all the help I can get. 5:47:46 PM Jo: Anya would be right. 5:57:23 PM Ash: Theo: I would point out that she's the one that spent two weeks as a vampire thrall, but then she'd bite me. 5:58:01 PM Jo: I hope you don't mind that I'm not a dragon. 6:04:37 PM Ash: Theo: Why would that bother me? 6:07:33 PM Jo: Usually people aren't terribly keen on demons in general. And, well... most people want someone like themselves. 6:12:21 PM Ash: Theo: Most dragons don't mate in their own species. 6:12:48 PM Jo: They don't? 6:16:34 PM Ash: THeo: No. Even before we weren't quite so rare, dragons tend to be fairly... singular. 6:17:23 PM Jo: Why haven't dragons died out, then? 6:22:06 PM Ash: Theo: Because when we mate with others, there's a decent chance the child will be a dragon. 6:24:35 PM Jo: Oh. Do you want children? 6:35:00 PM Ash: Theo: I hadn't thought about it yet. 6:36:14 PM Jo: I haven't either. 6:36:50 PM Jo: I find the idea a bit scary, to tell you the truth. 6:48:14 PM Ash: Theo: How so? 6:50:02 PM Jo: Creating a life and then being responsible for it, when it might be anything. 7:02:20 PM Ash: Theo: … also sometimes with dragons that life tries to eat you. 7:05:38 PM Jo: I hadn't considered that. 7:16:15 PM Ash: ((sorry! kitty stuff.)) 7:16:22 PM Ash: Theo: Only sometimes. 7:16:33 PM Ash: Theo: and only with the draconic parent. 7:20:05 PM Jo: You'd never eat a person. 7:20:20 PM Ash: Theo: No. 8:20:00 PM Jo: I suppose I would. 8:20:07 PM Jo: But the only person I've ever, er… eaten, is still Cas. 8:20:57 PM Ash: Theo: How do you usually get energy? 8:21:14 PM Jo: Eating. 8:26:07 PM Ash: Theo: So, like everyone else, then. 8:26:47 PM Jo: I like food. 8:30:41 PM Ash: Theo: Where'd you learn magic from? 8:32:58 PM Jo: My mother, mainly. Father for the more technical and theoretical aspects. 8:42:25 PM Ash: Theo: Where's your mother now? You said your father was in England. 8:42:57 PM Jo: Egypt. He's an excavator. 8:47:49 PM Ash: Theo: Have you been? 8:48:26 PM Jo: An excavator or in Egypt? Both, I spent most of my childhood there. 8:50:13 PM Ash: Theo: What was that like? 8:51:27 PM Jo: Oh, it was marvelous! Quite a bit of freedom. Mother doesn't believe in a lot of rules. 8:59:09 PM Ash: Theo: I've never been to Egypt. 9:01:09 PM Jo: It didn't feel like home. But England didn't either. 9:02:38 PM Ash: Theo: Has anywhere felt like home? 9:03:57 PM Jo: You feel like home. 9:05:08 PM Ash: Theo smiles. "Do I? I'm not that big in my dragon shape, am I?" 9:06:02 PM Jo: It isn't the size, it's the feeling. 9:06:55 PM Ash: What feeling is that? 9:08:20 PM Jo: Well... belonging. 9:11:57 PM Ash: Theo smiles. 9:13:12 PM Jo: Perhaps I'm already part of your hoard. 9:14:36 PM Ash: Theo: There's a distinct possibility. 9:15:08 PM Jo: As long as I'm the best part of it. 9:20:48 PM Ash: Theo: Oh, most definitely. 9:25:10 PM Jo: I can't wait to see it. 9:35:03 PM Ash: Theo: We'll be there before long. 9:38:12 PM Jo: I've enjoyed being your wife. 9:49:47 PM Ash: Theo: We haven't even left the cabin. 9:51:08 PM Jo: Are you complaining? 9:51:29 PM Ash: Theo: Did it sound like I was? That was not intentional, if so. 9:53:23 PM Jo: Oh, good. We could get married, you know. Really married. 9:54:09 PM Ash: Theo: … are you proposing? 9:56:01 PM Jo: Yes, I suppose I am! 10:00:27 PM Ash: THeo: Well. I say yes, then. 10:02:19 PM Jo: Oh good. I shall conjure you a ring when we reach our destination. As soon as I can. It is rather ugly, I'm afraid, but tradition is tradition. 10:03:10 PM Ash: Theo: I'm sure I can find something good in my hoard. 10:07:24 PM Jo: I am very excited to see it, Theo. 10:17:51 PM Ash: Theo: I think you'll like it. IT'swhere my workshop is, too. 10:20:16 PM Jo: Are we almost there? 10:24:38 PM Ash: Theo looks out the window. "Um." 10:30:39 PM Jo: … oh dear. Here, help me get my dress on. 10:35:17 PM *** Jo hurries to get her clothes back on and tries to fix her hair a bit. ***